Tag: crime fiction

It’s cozy. It’s culinary. It’s Mardi Gras madness!

Step 1 – join a killer krewe.

Itʼs carnival season in New Orleans, and Ricki James-Diaz and her friends from Bon Vee are dressing up for Mardi Gras. Theyʼve joined the notorious krewe of Chew to support Rickiʼs chef boyfriend, Virgil, who is to be crowned this yearʼs king. Itʼs all fun, throws, and over-the-top outfits until the kreweʼs captain is found strangled with his own medallion.

Step 2 – survive the festivities.

The prime suspect is Rickiʼs friend, the deceasedʼs wife who discovered he was cheating on her. It seems a straightforward case, but Ricki isnʼt so sure. The kreweʼs leader had many enemies including his mistress, his krewe co-founder who he ousted, and his college friend whose girlfriend he stole. One thingʼs clear, Rickiʼs at the center of yet another murder investigation. And if sheʼs not careful, her first Mardi Gras could also be her last . . .

Goodreads Purchase

Ellen Byron is an Anthony Award-nominated bestselling author and recipient of multiple Agatha and Lefty awards for her Cajun Country Mysteries, Vintage Cookbook Mysteries, and Catering Hall Mysteries (as Maria DiRico).

She is also an award-winning playwright and non-award-winning writer of TV hits like Wings, Just Shoot Me, and Fairly OddParents. Ellen was the 2023 Left Coast Crime Toastmaster but considers her most impressive achievement working as a cater-waiter for Martha Stewart.

A native New Yorker, Ellen is a graduate of Tulane University and lives in the Los Angeles area with her husband, daughter, and a rotating crew of rescue pups.

Instagram Facebook X Website

My thoughts: This was a really fun read, New Orleans is high on my list of places I’d like to visit one day, and the period of time leading up to Lent when all the carnival activities take place sounds quite something.

Ricki runs a shop attached to a museum, where she sells pre-loved cookbooks, and all sorts of other things. She enjoys what she does and has made some great friends, as well as having a lovely boyfriend with whom she shares two dogs and a kitten.

A relative newcomer to New Orleans, this is the first time she’s been involved with the Mardi Gras excitement and she’s a bit apprehensive. Then the carnival krewe she’s joined is hit by a shocking tragedy – their captain is murdered in the street outside their kick-off gathering.

The cops immediately decide it was his wife – after all the couple were seen arguing earlier that night. But Ricki’s friendly with the wife, Jessica, in question, and doesn’t agree. So she starts her own investigation. But when other things start happening – including someone literally throwing a bag of rocks at her head, it seems the killer might be more dangerous than she thought.

With the help of her friends, Ricki is determined to solve the case and catch a killer, but is something else going on in the carnival krewe and how far is someone willing to go to get what they want?

A really enjoyable, entertaining book with a fun cast of characters and a clever plot with plenty of twists.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Paint store owner Laura Meehan must prove her amateur sleuthing skills (again!) when her small townʼs public library starts burning in this installment of the Haunted Paint Store cozy mystery series.

Donʼt mess with a paint store ownerʼs safe haven!

Laura Meehan has her hands full with her paint store, but also with another case (that she will definitely leave to the police to solve)! The Sea Breeze Public Library is burning and itʼs clear from the beginning that it must be arson. Who would want to burn a library down and why? Was it a group of moms protesting what they see as inappropriate book content? Maybe it was someone who didnʼt like a title they lent? Or is there something more alarming going on?

As a library volunteer, Laura simply has to find out, and together with her IT-savvy husband Roy and her ex-detective fatherʼs ghost (real or imagined still yet to be determined), she stumbles upon a lot of obstacles on her quest to find the truth—and maybe even an arsonist who might strike again!

Goodreads Purchase

E.J. Copperman is the nom de plume for Jeff Cohen, writer of intentionally funny murder mysteries. As E.J., he has written the Haunted Guesthouse and Agent to the Paws series, as well as the Jersey Girl Legal Mysteries, the Fran & Ken Stein Mysteries, and the new Haunted Paint Store Mysteries; as Jeff, he has written the Double Feature and Aaron Tucker series; and he collaborated with himself on the Samuel Hoenig Aspergerʼs Mysteries.

A New Jersey native, E.J. worked as a newspaper reporter, teacher, magazine editor, and screenwriter before his first book was published to critical acclaim in 2002. In his spare time, Jeff is an extremely amateur guitar player, a fan of Major League Baseball, a couch potato, and a crossword addict.

Facebook Twitter Website

My thoughts: This was a fun mystery caper with the added twist of Laura’s dad haunting the family business and offering her his advice as a former cop.

The local library may not be big and fancy, but to Laura and the other patrons, it’s important, whether they’re locals or holiday makers needing something to read, the library acts as a safe haven and a community hub (I am very pro-library FYI as a former librarian and lifelong reader). Laura volunteers there once a week as a break from running her paint shop.

When someone starts a fire in the teen section, for some reason the main suspect isn’t the crazy woman trying to stop the library stocking “pornography” in the children’s and teens section (bet I can guess what she really means….), but the head librarian. Which for Laura, just doesn’t make sense. Except that Evelyn the librarian has disappeared.

So, armed with absolutely no alternate suspects, or investigative powers, Laura and ever loyal husband Roy are on the case. Her dad provides his two cents from the afterlife, only Laura can see him, and her therapist thinks he’s imaginary, but he does have actual experience and knowledge.

Driving the town’s one detective crazy, and upsetting the arson detective, several residents and the librarian, Laura is determined to get to the bottom of it. But will she do a better job than the actual cops?

Fun, funny and entertaining to read, I really liked Laura, her golden retriever husband and her ghost dad. They make a surprisingly good team. She’s got her heart in the right place, but tends to just charge ahead not really thinking about how her actions affect others or how she might actually be muddying the waters for the police. She does get results, but not in the way you might suspect and if she’s not careful, the four customers she does have might eventually be none, causing too much upset can make you unpopular! But hopefully not as her adventures are enjoyable to read.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

When the mayor turns up dead and a violent ghost haunts her basement, pub owner Wanda Atkins must solve a murder on one leg—literally. Spirits, secrets, and small-town scandal are all on tap in Ales and Alibis.

Wanda Atkins owns and works at her family pub, Pour Decisions, even after inheriting millions from the Prohibition Booze they discovered. Things should be easier now that sheʼs started her counseling practice, but money canʼt stop whatever malevolent entity is in her basement.

After the mayor is found dead in his own office, his wife, Wandaʼs first client, is the main suspect according to Wandaʼs boyfriend and deputy. Then, Wanda breaks her ankle after encountering the evil basement ghost.

Wanda must rely on her found family, her ghostly ancestors, and a little creative sleuthingto find a way to prove her clientʼs innocence and get rid of the whatever nonliving entity is in the basement.

Goodreads Purchase

Tobi Doyle writes meet-cutes and mysteries. With a questionable internet search history, she writes to make mom-time more enjoyable. Margaritas are optional!

Instagram Website Facebook

My thoughts: This was a fun read, with a murder to solve, ghosts to wrangle and a puppy to walk, Guy is very cute and I loved the scene where he encounters snow and ice for the first time.

Wanda runs Pour Decisions with her mum and grandma, a bar that serves delicious food popular with the residents of Atkinsville, the town her ancestors founded. However, she and the other Atkins women aren’t exactly embraced by all because of their unusual talents  – Gran reads tarot, mum reads palms and Wanda sees and talks to ghosts. And the town is full of them.

When the mayor is found dead in his office, it’s foul play, and there are plenty of suspects – firstly his wife and daughter. He was well known as an adulterer, and the women in his life all had reason to kill him. But Wanda is pretty sure it wasn’t Alicia, his wife and her new therapy client.

Her boyfriend Jack, a sheriff’s deputy, won’t tell her how the investigation is going, but Wanda is running her own, with a little help from the not-so-recently deceased.

I liked the characters, the town seems very quirky, and the Atkins and their closest are very intriguing, the case was resolved very nicely and I am going to keep an eye out for the next book in the series.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Bromgrove folk are dying to join Fitness for All. A friendly little gym where everyone’s welcome. And everyone’s a suspect.

Paralympian Jack Donahue has always been the gym’s devastatingly handsome poster boy. Until now.

Jack is found dead in the weights room. Bludgeoned with the same dumbbell that helped sculpt his world-class biceps!

Detective Gil Markham is called to investigate, with his loyal — and gloriously tactless — sidekick George Noakes never far behind.

But the deeper they dig into Jack’s secrets, the more suspects they find.
Behind his spotless public image, Jack wasn’t short of enemies. A spurned student with a grudge. A bitter ex-trainer. A girlfriend hiding secrets of her own.
Markham fears it all links back to a spate of attacks on the ladies of the Silver Swans barre group.

Before long, a second body falls. Then a third . . . both paid-up members of the gym.
Whoever’s behind these killings, they’re only just getting warmed up. Can Markham solve the case before they return to make it a personal best?

A wonderfully witty and twist-packed British crime mystery you won’t be able to put down. Perfect for fans of Elly Griffiths, Faith Martin, Clare Chase, P.F. Ford and LJ
Ross.

Goodreads Purchase

Catherine Moloney is a Liverpool writer of Irish-American heritage. After graduating
in Jurisprudence from Jesus College (University of Oxford), she was called to the Bar at Gray’s Inn. Despite qualifying as a barrister, her first love was English; this led to a PhD in English Literature at Birkbeck College (University of London).
In her academic career, she lectured and published widely on the subject of
tuberculosis and nineteenth-century literature, but somehow managed to avoid
contracting galloping hypochondria and turned her attention to crime fiction.

Facebook X Website

My thoughts: The Fitness For All gym is the centre of the crimes in this book – Paralympian Jack Donahue is murdered in the weight room, and several members of the Silver Swans dance class have been attacked around town. The only thing that connects the victims is the gym. But are the crimes being committed by the same person and why?

As Markham and his team investigate, they find Donahue wasn’t the golden boy he appeared to be and there were plenty of people who disliked him – but did that lead to his death?

There’s some people at the university too, where Donahue was supposed to be doing a PhD, some of whom seem very keen on him and others, like his girlfriend’s ex, who really don’t. That ex, a rather strange guy anyway – obsessed with eugenics and claiming Donahue was abusive, certainly seems to have motive.

But while he might have plenty to say, does he really seem like a killer? When another body is found, it seems less likely. Can the team crack the case?

Clever, funny (Noakes is rather entertaining if a bit of a dinosaur) and with a twisted killer at the centre, this is another excellent case for the Bromgrove CID.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Fearless, feisty and at the wheel of her bright orange campervan, newly-single Sadie is about to enter a new era… as a detective?!

It’s never too late for a second chance, and when Sadie Sutton’s marriage implodes spectacularly, she jumps into her vintage VW campervan and heads for the twisty cobbled streets and sea views of her childhood in the little seaside town of Winching. But her fresh start comes to an abrupt stop when she trips over a dead body, turning an ordinary walk with her faithful dog Sam Spade into a murder investigation!

Having failed to stop a balaclava-wearing suspect disappearing from the scene into the night, Sadie can’t help but take matters into her own hands. The victim, retired headmistress Charlotte Woolf, was well known around Winching for her sharp tongue – rumours suggest she was particularly disliked by her own husband! But he swears he doesn’t even like killing snails by mistake…

With the enthusiastic help of three women at the campsite who have all embraced Van Life, Sadie starts sleuthing. Who was sending Charlotte anonymous bunches of flowers that had her rattled? Do the members of the local sea swimming club hold a vital clue? Sadie and her friends are on the right track… until their prime suspect ends up dead in his garden shed!

Can Sadie get to the root of the problem and stop the killer before the next person is buried? Or will her fresh new chapter end with her driving her campervan back the way she came?

First in a brilliant new series from bestselling author Maeve Haran, this warm, witty and absolutely unputdownable cosy crime novel is perfect for fans of Agatha Christie, The Thursday Murder Club and Robert Thorogood.

Amazon

Maeve Haran is an Oxford law graduate who had a successful career in television before writing her worldwide bestseller Having It All , which was translated into twenty-six languages. She has written twenty contemporary novels, two historical novels, and a work of non-fiction in praise of life’s small pleasures. She has three grown up children and four grandchildren. She lives mainly in North London but escapes when she can to a much-loved cottage in the beautiful Cuckmere Valley near the sea in East Sussex. Her hobby is ignoring age and having a good time!

Mailing List Website

My thoughts: Discovering her husband in bed with her best friend, Sadie scoops her little dog Sam Spade up, buys a campervan and heads off to the beach where she had a great time as a child, hoping to start again.

Out for a walk, she comes across the body of retired headteacher Charlotte Woolf. Teaming up with the other Vintage Vanettes, while the police inspector is fixated on the victim’s husband, she needs to solve this herself.

This was really fun, funny and enjoyable start to a new series, I liked Sadie and little Sam, as well as her new friends. They’re smart and capable and solved the case ahead of the local police, proving they’ve got great instincts. Can’t wait for book two!

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour, but all opinions remain my own.

Baz Swoon is on the brink of the biggest deal of his life when two brutal
murders shatter rural Maine — and all the evidence points straight at him.

His wife, Melanie, already wary of his secrets and long absences, questions the
man she thought she knew.

Detective Philippa Fraiser heads south to North Carolina, and together with
Lieutenant Marquez, they uncover a pattern too precise to be a coincidence.

Someone is orchestrating the perfect frame — always one step ahead.

As Baz’s world unravels, his reputation, marriage, and freedom hang by a thread.
But the deeper Philippa digs, the clearer it becomes. This isn’t just a setup.

The killer is studying everyone.

Goodreads

Purchase 

Alistair Birch is a thriller writer and occasional poet, penning silly and
poignant rhymes. After two stints with separate publishers, he turned indie in 2024, producing a nineteen-eighties psychological thriller, The Evil Within, followed up by a co-authored epic historical thriller, The Girl from Berchtesgaden.

The re-release of his two-book, modern action thriller series, Shadow Pursuit and Shadow Play, came next and in 2026 he’s begun a new US-based detective procedural series. Book one is called Two States One Killer with the sequel, Cold Vein, well into production.

Outside of writing, Alistair works in IT and has volunteered as a facilitator in a mental health charity. He loves to cook, and occasionally head out for a run.

Facebook Instagram X Website

My thoughts: The evidence builds against Baz, and the police are soon on his trail, only he doesn’t even know that they think he might have murdered two people. He’s busy organising a buyout of his business, or so he thinks. The only person he trusts is Nick, but is he wrong to do so?

When detective Philippa Fraiser arrives in North Carolina from Maine, she thinks it’s a pretty solid case, except her prime suspect has never been to Maine, and then his assistant Cindy disappears, swiftly followed by Baz himself. What is going on?

As Philippa and Martinez search for the man, a series of rather obvious clues left for them, lead them to think someone else is manipulating things, pulling Baz’s strings. And they might be dangerous.

A clever, twisty story, where it’s hard to know exactly who to believe in until it all starts to become clear, and fall apart, as the police close in on their killer, just as he thinks he’s got away with it.

*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in this blog tour,but all opinions remain my own.